Thursday, December 31, 2015

By the time you read this it will likely be too late to visit the Festival Lights which ends today, New Year's Eve. However, you might make it. It's open from 4:30 to 9. Buy your tickets on-line so you don't have to line up. https://ticketstonight.ticketforce.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=3062
In case you don't make it, here's just a tiny fraction of what you missed! Happy New Year.

I can't help but think some Park Board official asked "Do we have to sell donuts....they're not good for you, and don't reflect well on our efforts to become the greenest city in the world!"

In June,
columnist Michael Geller suggested a need to develop a greater respect for
architectural heritage, with more incentives from city hall to keep heritage
and character buildings. He predicts the city will follow up, and we can expect
zoning changes and design guidelines later in the year. Photograph
By Dan Toulgoet

I have
always been fascinated by predictions.

At the
end of 2014, I reviewed my first year as a Vancouver Courier columnist.
Popular topics included increasing concern over the loss of character houses,
improving the tidiness of the city, whether citizens should have greater say in
the planning process, the need for improved transit and the impact of foreign
buyers on the cost of housing.I opined
that as we looked forward to 2015, these topics would continue to be of
interest to readers. Suffice it to say, I was right.

Earlier
this month, I reviewed which of my 2015 columns generated the greatest interest
and recycled them into a Holiday Greeting Card. You can find ithere.

In
January, I wrote about the need to fix our broken taxi system by allowing Uber
and other ride-sharing services into the city. Rather than fight Uber, I
suggested the taxi industry strive to improve our taxi culture.

In
February, I offered 12 affordable housing ideas based on a SFU lecture.
This year I will be presenting another 12 affordable housing ideas at an April
6 SFU lecture.

In March,
inspired by a tour of Paris with a former Vancouver city planner, my column
called for a master plan for our city. Many readers agreed; sadly, Brian
Jackson, the city’s director of planning did not. But he’s gone now.

On April
1, I delivered another SFU lecture on 12 great ideas for Vancouver from around
the world.
Following the talk, members of the audience made suggestions on how we might
make Vancouver a friendlier city and this became the topic for a subsequent
column. It included a proposal for Neighbour Day, when we all make an effort to
meet our neighbours.

In May, I
was distressed by the amount of garbage strewn along the 100 Block East
Hastings by street market vendors, and suggested Vancouver needed a good spring
cleaning. While I will never know if this column had any influence, later in
the year, city council voted to shut down this unsightly mess.

In June,
following a Heritage Vancouver house tour, I suggested we needed to develop a
greater respect for our architectural heritage, with more incentives from city
hall to keep heritage and character buildings. This time I predict the city
will follow up, and we can expect zoning changes and design guidelines later in
the year.

In July,
following a decision by the Ontario government to pass legislation to prevent
“phantom bids” from realtors involved with real estate transactions, I
suggested that it was time to revise how real estate commissions should be
calculated. While most realtors disagreed, a small minority agreed with readers
who liked the idea. I predict nothing will happen.

In
August, I met UBC’s Dr. Paul Kershaw, a most interesting young man in red
shoes. He founded “Generation Squeeze,” a movement to encourage Canadians 25 to
45 to become more politically engaged and increase their influence on future
government policies. I think the October election demonstrated that his voice
was heard.

In
September, following a trip to Saint Petersburg, I reiterated a call for a
master plan for Vancouver. One day we will get one, but not in 2016.

In
October, I wrote about Roundhouse Radio 98.3 FM, a new community based radio
station that hit the airwaves earlier in the month. While most Vancouverites
still haven’t heard of it, I predict this will change in 2016.

In
November, I returned to the theme of affordable housing and reported on the
need for our Metro Vancouver regional government to play a more active role. I
predict it will try, but with little success.

At the
beginning of 2015, I wrote about the need for a “world class” public New Year’s
Eve celebration in Vancouver. I am delighted to report that this year, a public
event is happening. Unfortunately, it has had little publicity. For details, go
to nyevan.com. I will be
there and I hope many of you will be, too. If you see me, I’d like to hear your
predictions for the coming year.

Best
wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful holiday season and 2016.

@michaelgeller

- See
more at:
http://www.vancourier.com/opinion/a-look-back-at-last-year-and-predictions-for-the-next-1.2138457#sthash.8j1hpmXp.dpuf

A look back at last year and predictions for the next

In June, columnist Michael Geller suggested a need to develop a
greater respect for architectural heritage, with more incentives from
city hall to keep heritage and character buildings. He predicts the city
will follow up, and we can expect zoning changes and design guidelines
later in the year.
Photograph By
Dan Toulgoet

I have always been fascinated by predictions.
At the end of 2014, I reviewed my first year as a Vancouver Courier
columnist. Popular topics included increasing concern over the loss of
character houses, improving the tidiness of the city, whether citizens
should have greater say in the planning process, the need for improved
transit and the impact of foreign buyers on the cost of housing.
I opined that as we looked forward to 2015, these topics would continue
to be of interest to readers. Suffice it to say, I was right.
Earlier this month, I reviewed which of my 2015 columns generated the
greatest interest and recycled them into a Holiday Greeting Card. You
can find ithere.
In January, I wrote about the need to fix our broken taxi system by
allowing Uber and other ride-sharing services into the city. Rather than
fight Uber, I suggested the taxi industry strive to improve our taxi
culture.
In February, I offered 12 affordable housing ideas based on a SFU
lecture. This year I will be presenting another 12 affordable housing
ideas at an April 6 SFU lecture.

In March, inspired by a tour of Paris with a former Vancouver city
planner, my column called for a master plan for our city. Many readers
agreed; sadly, Brian Jackson, the city’s director of planning did not.
But he’s gone now.
On April 1, I delivered another SFU lecture on 12 great ideas for Vancouver from around the world.

Following the talk, members of the audience made suggestions on how we
might make Vancouver a friendlier city and this became the topic for a
subsequent column. It included a proposal for Neighbour Day, when we all
make an effort to meet our neighbours.
In May, I was distressed by the amount of garbage strewn along the 100
Block East Hastings by street market vendors, and suggested Vancouver
needed a good spring cleaning. While I will never know if this column
had any influence, later in the year, city council voted to shut down
this unsightly mess.
In June, following a Heritage Vancouver house tour, I suggested we
needed to develop a greater respect for our architectural heritage, with
more incentives from city hall to keep heritage and character
buildings. This time I predict the city will follow up, and we can
expect zoning changes and design guidelines later in the year.
In July, following a decision by the Ontario government to pass
legislation to prevent “phantom bids” from realtors involved with real
estate transactions, I suggested that it was time to revise how real
estate commissions should be calculated. While most realtors disagreed, a
small minority agreed with readers who liked the idea. I predict
nothing will happen.
In August, I met UBC’s Dr. Paul Kershaw, a most interesting young man
in red shoes. He founded “Generation Squeeze,” a movement to encourage
Canadians 25 to 45 to become more politically engaged and increase their
influence on future government policies. I think the October election
demonstrated that his voice was heard.
In September, following a trip to Saint Petersburg, I reiterated a call
for a master plan for Vancouver. One day we will get one, but not in
2016.
In October, I wrote about Roundhouse Radio 98.3 FM, a new community
based radio station that hit the airwaves earlier in the month. While
most Vancouverites still haven’t heard of it, I predict this will change
in 2016.
In November, I returned to the theme of affordable housing and reported
on the need for our Metro Vancouver regional government to play a more
active role. I predict it will try, but with little success.
At the beginning of 2015, I wrote about the need for a “world class”
public New Year’s Eve celebration in Vancouver. I am delighted to report
that this year, a public event is happening. Unfortunately, it has had
little publicity. For details, go to nyevan.com.
I will be there and I hope many of you will be, too. If you see me, I’d like to hear your predictions for the coming year.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful holiday season and 2016.
@michaelgeller

- See more at:
http://www.vancourier.com/opinion/a-look-back-at-last-year-and-predictions-for-the-next-1.2138457#sthash.8j1hpmXp.dpuf

A look back at last year and predictions for the next

In June, columnist Michael Geller suggested a need to develop a
greater respect for architectural heritage, with more incentives from
city hall to keep heritage and character buildings. He predicts the city
will follow up, and we can expect zoning changes and design guidelines
later in the year.
Photograph By
Dan Toulgoet

I have always been fascinated by predictions.
At the end of 2014, I reviewed my first year as a Vancouver Courier
columnist. Popular topics included increasing concern over the loss of
character houses, improving the tidiness of the city, whether citizens
should have greater say in the planning process, the need for improved
transit and the impact of foreign buyers on the cost of housing.
I opined that as we looked forward to 2015, these topics would continue
to be of interest to readers. Suffice it to say, I was right.
Earlier this month, I reviewed which of my 2015 columns generated the
greatest interest and recycled them into a Holiday Greeting Card. You
can find ithere.
In January, I wrote about the need to fix our broken taxi system by
allowing Uber and other ride-sharing services into the city. Rather than
fight Uber, I suggested the taxi industry strive to improve our taxi
culture.
In February, I offered 12 affordable housing ideas based on a SFU
lecture. This year I will be presenting another 12 affordable housing
ideas at an April 6 SFU lecture.

In March, inspired by a tour of Paris with a former Vancouver city
planner, my column called for a master plan for our city. Many readers
agreed; sadly, Brian Jackson, the city’s director of planning did not.
But he’s gone now.
On April 1, I delivered another SFU lecture on 12 great ideas for Vancouver from around the world.

Following the talk, members of the audience made suggestions on how we
might make Vancouver a friendlier city and this became the topic for a
subsequent column. It included a proposal for Neighbour Day, when we all
make an effort to meet our neighbours.
In May, I was distressed by the amount of garbage strewn along the 100
Block East Hastings by street market vendors, and suggested Vancouver
needed a good spring cleaning. While I will never know if this column
had any influence, later in the year, city council voted to shut down
this unsightly mess.
In June, following a Heritage Vancouver house tour, I suggested we
needed to develop a greater respect for our architectural heritage, with
more incentives from city hall to keep heritage and character
buildings. This time I predict the city will follow up, and we can
expect zoning changes and design guidelines later in the year.
In July, following a decision by the Ontario government to pass
legislation to prevent “phantom bids” from realtors involved with real
estate transactions, I suggested that it was time to revise how real
estate commissions should be calculated. While most realtors disagreed, a
small minority agreed with readers who liked the idea. I predict
nothing will happen.
In August, I met UBC’s Dr. Paul Kershaw, a most interesting young man
in red shoes. He founded “Generation Squeeze,” a movement to encourage
Canadians 25 to 45 to become more politically engaged and increase their
influence on future government policies. I think the October election
demonstrated that his voice was heard.
In September, following a trip to Saint Petersburg, I reiterated a call
for a master plan for Vancouver. One day we will get one, but not in
2016.
In October, I wrote about Roundhouse Radio 98.3 FM, a new community
based radio station that hit the airwaves earlier in the month. While
most Vancouverites still haven’t heard of it, I predict this will change
in 2016.
In November, I returned to the theme of affordable housing and reported
on the need for our Metro Vancouver regional government to play a more
active role. I predict it will try, but with little success.
At the beginning of 2015, I wrote about the need for a “world class”
public New Year’s Eve celebration in Vancouver. I am delighted to report
that this year, a public event is happening. Unfortunately, it has had
little publicity. For details, go to nyevan.com.
I will be there and I hope many of you will be, too. If you see me, I’d like to hear your predictions for the coming year.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful holiday season and 2016.
@michaelgeller

- See more at:
http://www.vancourier.com/opinion/a-look-back-at-last-year-and-predictions-for-the-next-1.2138457#sthash.8j1hpmXp.dpuf

Thursday, December 10, 2015

In the interest of resource conservation, this year's Greeting Card is made from recycled Vancouver Courier newspaper columns. I hope you can take a moment to enjoy them. Best wishes for a happy holiday season.

One of the many bird's-eye renderings on display at the Little Mountain Open House. But no new street level views. I think bird's-eye drawings are for the birds.

Development open houses should reveal more details

Story boards and illustrative panels don't reveal
enough about look of projects

Given the
number of holiday receptions and office parties taking place, it’s beginning to
feel a lot like Christmas, or Chanukah, or whatever you celebrate this time of
year. However,
for some strange reason, the past two weeks have also been a time for three
City of Vancouver planning department open houses: the proposed redevelopment
of Langara Gardens, the much-awaited rezoning proposal for the Little Mountain
property, and 555 West Cordova St., the parking lot next to the former CPR
Station where the so-called origami tower was rejected
earlier this year.

Much will
be written about these important developments over the coming weeks and months.
However, as I wandered about the open houses, I was troubled. Despite
the many elaborate story boards and illustrative panels, I really could not
tell what these projects would look like if approved, and wondered how the
public could be reasonably expected to comment. Here is what I did find.

The Langara Gardens complex
is located west of Cambie Street between 57th Avenue and the lane south of 54th
Avenue. In 1987 my company rezoned it for a fourth 18-storey rental tower on
behalf of its then owner, the late Morris Wosk. The
current owners are Concert Properties, one of Canada’s most respected
development companies, and Petersen Group. Their architect is James Cheng, a
colleague and friend, who has designed many of the city’s most beautiful
developments.

This open
house, the second organized by the planning department in a $700,000+ planning
process, is to help develop a policy statement to guide the future rezoning of
the property. There was
a lot of information on display, including three “planning concepts” on which
the public was asked to comment. However, two things troubled me.

The three
concepts were essentially the same. Each contained a similar amount of
development in lowrise (three to six storeys), midrise (up to 20 storeys), and
highrise (up to 28 storeys). Moreover,
the 3-D drawings and site plan diagrams on display gave no indication what a
future development might look like.

If you
are questioning whether a 20-storey building is a midrise, you are right. If
you are wondering why 28 storeys, city council approved this height for the
adjacent Pearson hospital site.

I was
more troubled at the Little Mountain open
house where the proponent Holborn and its design team has finally submitted a
formal rezoning proposal.

The
latest plan calls for 1732 housing units along with an array of community
amenities — 234 of the units replace the social housing formerly on the
property. While
some are criticizing the plan for not having enough social housing, the
purchase price, rumoured to be between $200 and $300 million, will be used by
the Province to fund other social housing projects.

Many
bird’s-eye drawings and diagrams were on display. However, there was nothing to
show the public what this development will actually look like when viewed at
street level. The planners justified this by saying it is just a rezoning; the
detailed drawings can come later. I disagree.

With
today’s computer graphics it is surprisingly easy to prepare realistic drawings
of how a project will look. The city should ask Holborn and IBI Architects to
prepare illustrations, prior to rezoning, so everyone can see how this large
development will appear when viewed at street level along Main Street and
elsewhere around the site. I am hoping it will look better than when viewed by
a bird.

At the 555 West Cordova open house
there was no specific building design on display. This time I did not object,
since the proponent and city have decided it is important to reach agreement on
key design principles for this strategic “Hub” site at the gateway to the
waterfront, before designing the building.

However,
I worry that any building design that incorporates unused square footage from
the CP Station site will be too large for this small, publicly cherished lot. I
therefore urge the city to encourage the developer to transfer a significant
portion of the building density to its other properties, so that the new
building can better fit with its heritage surroundings.

Extensive
information about the Langara Gardens and Little Mountain proposals is
available on the City of Vancouver websitewww.vancouver.ca.